OTAY MESA  A newspaper delivery man helped an elderly woman out of her Otay Mesa mobile home early Thursday as it was being engulfed by a fire that may have been deliberately set.

Eduardo Barajas, 48, who delivers U-T San Diego, said he was on his route about 5 a.m. at the Ocean Bluffs Mobile Home Estates on Del Sol Boulevard when he saw smoke and flames coming from a home.

He opened the front door and found 79-year-old Sarah Erman trying to go out another door. Erman said the smoke alarm had awakened her.

Barajas said he helped the frightened woman outside, alerted other residents to the fire and called 911.

The flames were knocked down in about 20 minutes, said Maurice Luque, spokesman for the San Diego Fire-Rescue Department. Investigators later determined the cause of the blaze was suspicious though how it started was not immediately known.

Erman’s home was destroyed, with the damage estimated at $100,000 for the structure and $100,000 for the contents, Luque said. The fire did not spread to other homes, but it did cause about $15,000 in interior and exterior heat damage to another unit, he said.

The Red Cross was called to aid Erman.

She had recently taken out a restraining order against an ex-boyfriend, Luque said. San Diego police later took that man, John C. Peacock, 65, into custody on suspicion of violating the order, Luque said.

Barajas, who has delivered newspapers for 19 years, said he twisted his ankle during the incident and was going to see a doctor. He said he just did what anyone else would have done.

Newspaper delivery man Eduardo Barajas called 911 and help79 year-old Sarah Erman, shown here talking to Red Cross workers, was burned out of her mobile home in Otay early Thursday morning by an arson fire.
— John Gibbins

Newspaper delivery man Eduardo Barajas called 911 and help79 year-old Sarah Erman, shown here talking to Red Cross workers, was burned out of her mobile home in Otay early Thursday morning by an arson fire.
— John Gibbins